“What did Odysseus do in order to sail by the sirens safely?” he asked me. “I forget,” I said. “He did what you must do now, whenever anybody tells you that you have an artistic gift of any kind,” he said. “I only wish my father had told me what I tell you now.” “Sir?” I said. “Plug your ears with wax, my boy—and lash yourself to the mast,” he said.
